Residents of Korando in Kisumu County have opposed the planned establishment of a Sh800 million sewage treatment plant in the area saying that they have not been involved.
They accused Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency of targeting 78 acres of their land to implement the project, without following due process.
While the project was to include public participation as expected by law, a lawyer representing residents accused the agency of sidelining over 10,000 of them.
“It is suspicious and malicious that the agency is relying on a few handpicked individuals to implement a project while edging out members of the community,” lawyer Raymond Olendo said.
Mr Olendo further questioned the rationale for establishing another sewage treatment plant with Nyalenda Wastewater Pond and Kisat Conventional Sewerage Plant yet to be fully utilised.
Residents of Korando village in Kisumu County hold demonstrations on August 8, 2021, against the planned construction of a Sh800 million sewerage plant in the area by Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency.
Photo credit: Tonny Omondi | Nation Media Group
Nyalenda Pond has a capacity of 15,000 cubic meters per day while Kisat has a capacity of 8,000, but they have not been operating optimally.
Speaking during a protest march in Korando on Sunday, residents reiterated that they will not allow implementation of the project in their land.
“Korando residents have donated land to major institutions like the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kodiaga Prison and the Kisumu Molasses Plant, but have nothing to show for it,” said one Gerald Gawo.
“There has been a lot of activity lately, with people’s land haphazardly demarcated and beacons placed,” he said.
Conceived in 2013, the agency seeks to improve water and sanitation services and ease the burden on the two existing amenities, which manage 18 percent of homes connected to the public sewerage system.
With a population of over 600,000, most of the residents are forced to use alternatives such as pit latrines and septic tanks.
The agency’s acting chief executive George Odedeh said there is an elaborate plan to develop 70km of a sewerage treatment network within the city.
The Korando plant will treat 4,000 cubic meters of waste water per day, he said.
“We will dredge Nyalenda Pond for optimisation while more processes will be added to the Kisat plant in order for it to handle more waste as we [deal] with the rapid population increase in the city,” he said recently.
Residents of Korando village in Kisumu County hold demonstrations on August 8, 2021, against the planned construction of a Sh800 million sewerage plant in the area by Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency.
Photo credit: Tonny Omondi | Nation Media Group
The project is part of a Sh7 billion initiative financed by the Kenyan government, European Union, European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency.
The fund will also support renewed water supply and sanitation services for more than 350,000 Kisumu residents.
Katrine Hagemann, the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Kenya, said the project is scheduled to be completed in the next four years.
The Lake Victoria Water Supply and Sanitation programme will see construction of an additional 107km of a water supply system within the city.
It will extend to the satellite towns of Maseno, Kiboswa and Ahero, Ms Hagemann said.
